Roundup of recent stories about the LDS baptisms for the dead controversy, including two excellent stories explaining the ordinance.

Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor whose name was inappropriately submitted to a genealogical database from which names are extracted for proxy baptisms in temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is outraged.

"I think it's scandalous," Wiesel told the Huffington Post after the story broke earlier this week that his name, along with his father's and maternal grandfather's, appeared on the database. "Not only objectionable, it's scandalous."

The unauthorized appearance of the still-very-much-alive Wiesel's name on an LDS genealogical index reserved for the names of deceased persons contributed to media coverage of LDS baptisms for the dead. Also contributing to that coverage was the inappropriate proxy baptism of the parents of his fellow Holocaust survivor, Simon Wiesenthal.

The LDS Church has publicly apologized for the Wiesenthal baptisms, noting that they were done contrary to church policy that excludes Holocaust victims from eligibility for proxy baptism except if the name is submitted by a direct descendant of the victim. The church has suspended the genealogical access rights of the member who submitted the Wiesenthal names.

As far as the Wiesel name submissions are concerned, a church spokesman said that those names were simply on a database (they have since been removed) and would have been rejected if they had been submitted for proxy baptism.

None of which is adequate to Wiesel. In fact, he wants to take his objections to a higher authority: Mitt Romney.

"I wonder if as a candidate for the presidency Mitt Romney is aware of what his church is doing," Wiesel said. "I hope that if he hears about this that he will speak up."

"In fact, Romney holds little authority in the strictly hierarchal LDS Church," Coppins writes, "and any advice he gave to the church's leaders would likely be politely received but not acted on."

Coppins also references a 2007 Newsweek story in which Romney indicates that he has performed baptisms for the dead in LDS temples.

As "a Mormon who has taken part in this ordinance before," Coppins tries to clarify some of the misconceptions this news story has generated in the national media. With clear, concise language he responds to several key questions, including:

How are baptisms for the dead performed? ("Despite claims by the morbid and uninformed, there are no corpses involved in this practice," Coppins writes.)

Do Mormons think they're converting these people's souls when they perform posthumous baptisms? ("No," says Coppins. "Mormons believe that by performing posthumous baptisms, they are giving their ancestors the option of embracing the full truth of Mormonism. The church doesn't consider anyone a Mormon just because they've been posthumously baptized. That's a decision for the individual to make.")

Why do Mormons do this? What's the doctrinal significance? ("Krister Stendahl, former dean of Harvard Divinity School, has pointed to a verse in 1 Corinthians that apparently makes reference to baptisms for the dead. 'Now, with the Mormons we have it again as a practice,' said Stendahl, a former bishop in the Church of Sweden, in a video that you can see here. "It's a beautiful thing. I could think of myself as taking part in such an act.’ ”)

Dan Gilgoff of the Associated Press similarly tried to explain baptism for the dead on CNN's Religion Blogs. He also posed a series of questions and included responses from LDS scholars like Richard Bushman of Columbia University and Terryl Givens of the University of Richmond along with his answers. For example:

Popular Comments

The Church has done nothing to Wiesel. It is one individual somewhere who did
it. He of all people should realize that it is wrong to attack a whole group
for the actions of one person. The Church did not create the database. To act
like the
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7:03 p.m. Feb. 17, 2012

Top comment

Janet

Ontario, OR

One of my children was born in a Catholic hospital. I wouldn't be surprised if,
seeing that the mother was LDS, a caring priest didn't sprinkle my child to save
his soul. If so, I think it was an act of kindness. There is no arrogance, no
rancor, no
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11:41 p.m. Feb. 17, 2012

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Ken

Sandy, UT

While I am very glad the church is sympathetic to the wishes of the jews in this
matter, I am surprised at the demanding attitudes of many towards the church. At
the end of the day, the church can do as they wish and do baptisms for the dead
for
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Joseph Walker began his professional writing career in 1980 as a staff writer for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, eventually becoming the newspaper's television and live theater critic. He left professional journalism more ..